Starting Your New Remote Job: The Onboarding Process

So you prepared for your interview; you had a successful interview and now you’re starting your new job. And, just like with your interview, you find yourself in a remote environment and working online. It’s not easy settling in to any new job and this can even be more challenging for a remote worker.

This is where the onboarding process comes into play. Onboarding refers to the processes through which new workers acquire the required knowledge, skills, and processes in order to become an effective employee. As well as allowing new employees to complete the new-hire orientation process, the process helps the new employee to learn about their new company and its structure, vision, mission, values and culture.

When you start a job online, your remote employer should do everything they can to make you feel welcome and give you everything you need to confidently carry out your new duties and help you deal with the challenges that working from home presents.

From the practicalities of setting up email accounts, using work-related software and gaining access to key documents to knowing where you can get specific information or advice when needed, it’s essential that the online support is there to introduce and integrate you into your new remote role.

Below we take a look at what to expect as part of the online onboarding process.

HR

Ahead of starting your new job, the onboarding process begins with you receiving a formal job offer letter or email, along with any company policy documents and other necessary paperwork. Make sure this information includes your Job title and Job description, plus details of your salary, hours of work, holiday entitlements, Employee benefits and periods of notice.

Hardware

Many remote jobs will supply you with your own laptop. Your new employers should provide you with any support you may need If you have any specific requirements, such as accessibility, etc. The laptop is company property and will need to be returned if / when you leave. You should use this laptop solely for work purposes.

Software

You should be provided with all the necessary software required for you to do your job – this can range from your own accounts, programs, log-ins and passwords to  whatever tools the company uses such as Slack, Asana, Monday, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, etc. You should be provided with any necessary training / guidance in order to use any software required for you to carry out your job.

Meet the Team

It is important that your remote onboarding process includes a video meeting between you and the current employee giving you the opportunity to introduce yourself and meet your new team members. This will also give you the opportunity to meet  the key people and departments within your new organization.

Communication

You will need to be brought up to speed on how your new team communicates – do they use email, video calls, WhatsApp, Teams? You need to know whether your new company uses one platform for all communications on one platform or do they use different platforms for different tasks.

Online Meetings

In your first week you should be having a number of meetings to help get you into shape – whether that be with your manager or a colleague who is mentoring / guiding you in your first days / week with your new organisation.

Contacts

You should have contact details for your manager and HR and know when they are available. If you have a mentor / guide, find out how they prefer to communicate and keep in contact with them as your go-to colleague for issues that will arise that are not the concern of management or HR.

Feedback

It’s important that you give feedback about your onboarding experience. As well as pointing out what you found helped you to settle in, you could also make suggestions to make the process better. Your feedback addressing any issues will give your employer an idea of what improvements could be made to improve the process for the next employee.

Should all the above be in place you will find that your onboarding process will go smoothly and help you take the first few steps with your new company with ease. This in turn will help you put your best foot forward and do your job effectively without coming up against unnecessary obstacles and obstructions that hinder your progress.

 

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